Open University of Catalonia

Israel Rodríguez-Giralt & Daniel López Gómez

The Open University of Catalonia (UOC) was created in 1994 as one of the world’s very first completely online higher education establishments and currently has more than 50,000 students. The UOC’s core goal is to be the University of the Knowledge Society, promoting innovative education, personalised learning, technological leadership, R&D work on the information society and e-learning, and the dissemination of knowledge.

The team at UOC has extensive experience in the social study of techno-scientific controversies. They have expertise on a variety of fields of research, including the study of new social movements, public participation, user-led innovation and care technologies. Their interests cohere around the study of new forms of participation, particularly from the most vulnerable people, in relation to disasters.

UOC will lead two work packages:

  • Work package 2 is devoted to scoping existing disaster management policy and practice and disaster risk reduction / preparedness programmes and public policy in partner countries.
  • Work package 5 is dedicated to raise awareness and communicate issues related to children and young people’s resilience and perception of risk study how this is impacted by cultural factors and how policy needs to develop to include this.